A BIO-ARTIFICIAL PANCREAS CREATED USING CELL ENCAPSULATION IN SELF-ASSEMBLED MICROCONTAINERS ON ALGINATE SHEET

摘要

This paper presents a bio-artificial pancreas fabricated with self-assembled, precisely structured 3D microcontainers on a rolled-up alginate sheet. We utilize a novel 3D membrane approach developed in our laboratory to package pancreatic β-cells so that they can be transplanted and function like an autonomous insulin-producing organ. Our approach provides stable and adequate diffusion of insulin from the microcontainers, as a prior step to the ultimate artificial pancreas which will eventually achieve precise immunoisolation of encapsulated cells using nanotechnology.